Embracing the sweet side

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Swing and Snickerdoodle– Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

*Please note, this was written on Saturday. I have been lazy at posting it*

I’m currently sitting in the hallway of a school building…on a weekend. Why you ask? Because I love school so much, I’m taking a weekend class. OK, well I just needed to take this class, its one credit, and it’s only offered on the weekend, so here I am. BUT, I did finish my project early, so now I’m doing this. I would say this is a good use of time. :) Let us continue talking about cupcakes…! For the time being, I’m still going to call them adventures…it makes it sound more exciting.

Swing club board bonding was adventure 3! I love swing dancing! It’s fantastic! (I apologize for the use of exclamation points…I just get so excited! :D) The board is also splendid. We all get along and like each other, so I think that helps of course. We were having a social night a couple of weeks ago and made homemade cupcakes. We made the peanut butter ones and the s’more ones (though instead of toasted marshmallows like the first time I made them, we used the marshmallow buttercream from the red velvet cupcakes). The peanut butter ones were still like heaven- though a little denser this time. The s’more one, I think it could still use a little work-especially to get the graham cracker flavor to come out, but it was good with the frosting instead of the toasted marshmallows. There are a couple pictures from this night, not really of the cupcakes, but of us making the cupcakes (but let’s be serious, we’re just as awesome :D)

The work station. It was kind of organized chaos.

The lovely Shelby doing some mixing!

Yes, I really am that short. And yes, he really is that tall.

Scooping!

Now the fantastic Lauren is doing some mixing!

I couldn’t help but put this one on here. Shelby and I had to run from South Campus up to North Campus and back to South. We had to grab…sugar and a pot holder I believe it was. We started off running, and then we realized we are dancers, not cross country members, so we switched to a speedy walk. This is us after speed walking about a mile and a half, at least. It’s a tough life. :)

If you’ve never tried swing dancing, I would suggest trying it. Among other things, it’s a great source of fun and exercise (while impressing people in the process :D).

And the most recent cupcake adventure…

Cupcake 16- SNICKERDOODLE

I made these cupcakes because a friend and I signed up to cook for our weekly Newman gathering/discussion. So I said I would make cupcakes, because I happen to know some of the people there read my blog so it was only fair to make them something. So I made these the night before in the kitchen in the basement of my dorm. Again, it was pretty simple. Since I’m at school, I’ve been using cake mix boxes. Like the cake doctor would! Be yeah, it’s what works.

Important note: I doubled this recipe. I had to plan for at least 30 people…of course I ended up with over 40 cupcakes, but that’s ok. :)

Then it was time to mix. I don’t have a mixer here…it is a little tragic. It’s actually not too bad when it’s just batter.

And now it was all mixed and ready to go!

Scooping time! So last time, I just used a couple spoons. I decided to check if they had an ice cream scoop at the front desk of my dorm. They did…well, it didn’t have the little pushy part, but it was still a scoop. It worked, though I still had to use a spoon to guide it out. I ended up going to the store and investing in my own ice cream scoop for next time.

Into the oven they go…

Well they were in the oven, I started the frosting.

The roommate was taking pictures for me (…and she took a video :P) and she told me she was upset the I never look happy when I bake. I’m just concentrating. Ha. So, I smiled…dramatically of course :)

I was getting tired of mixing, as I mentioned I don’t have a mixer, so the roommate and I changed places. I dumped in the melted butter while she stirred.

But eventually I started mixing again. Hand mixing frosting is intense stuff. I would not suggest it. I’m surprised I didn’t bend the spoon.

By this time, the first batch was ready to come out of the oven.

Then I put the next one in…

After doing some dishes, staring at the cupcakes (and my roommate), and some giggling, the cupcakes were all cooled.

And ready to be frosted!

We piped these ones. There were a couple reasons behind that. The first reason is my roommate and I love piping. And that was a driving reason. But the other thing was this frosting was really sweet. Too much powdered sugar. Yes, that was my bad. Note to all: Even out your powdered sugar in your measuring cup. Do not let it heap. It still tasted good, but it was a little too sweet and intense to put on all of the cupcake. We figured it would ruin the cupcake with all that sweetness piled on top. Hence we just did some decorative piping.

Also, for the record, I pipe WAY faster than the roomie. Win for me! :)

Then we tasted! We ripped it in half and each tried some. They were good actually. They had a very nice cinnamon taste. I actually think they tasted a lot like a cinnamon roll. They were tasty and I would make these again. I also think the frosting technique worked rather well. It just added to the cupcake since these would’ve been splendid even without the frosting. Everyone at Newman seemed to like them too, so that was wonderful. I like when people enjoy what I make. It makes it’s worth it. The quote of the night was “If there was a candle that smelled like how these tasted, I’d buy it.”

Meanwhile, in large bowl, mix powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and the butter with electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 2 tablespoons of milk. Gradually beat in enough remaining milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make frosting smooth and spreadable.